Social Network Data Analysis to Generate Incentives for Online Gaming

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for processing recommendations of online games to friends of social network are described. A method for processing recommendations includes identifying a gaming session of a user on an online game provider network, accessing a use profile of the user for the online games of the online game provider network, and accessing a social graph of the user to identify friends of the user and respective friend profiles from the social network. The method further includes producing a recommendation of an online game. The recommendation includes an identification of a target friend of the user and is being provided by examination of the use profile of the user and friend profiles in the social graph. The method includes providing the recommendation to the user. The recommendation also includes an offer incentive to the user to share the recommendation with the target friend.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of andpriority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, to application Ser. No. 15/411,566,filed on Jan. 20, 2017 and titled “Social Network Data Analysis toGenerate Incentives for Online Gaming”, which is a continuation of andclaims the benefit of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, toapplication Ser. No. 14/477,712, filed on Sep. 4, 2014, titled “SocialNetwork Data Analysis to Generate Incentives for Online Gaming”, and nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,573,065, which are incorporated by referenceherein in their entirety

The application Ser. No. 14/477,712 is a continuation of and claims thebenefit of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, to application Ser. No.13/601,975, filed on Aug. 31, 2012, titled “Social Network Data Analysisto Generate Incentives for Online Gaming”, and now issued as U.S. Pat.No. 8,832,195, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

The application Ser. No. 13/601,975 is a continuation-in-part of andclaims the benefit of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, toapplication Ser. No. 13/537,846, filed on Jun. 29, 2012 and titled“Social Network Data Analysis to Generate Suggestion Metrics for OnlineGaming”, now abandoned, which is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

The application Ser. No. 13/601,975 is a continuation-in-part of andclaims the benefit of and priority, under 35 U.S.C. § 120, toapplication Ser. No. 13/537,899, filed on Jun. 29, 2012 and titled“Social Network Data Analysis to Provide News for Online Gaming”, nowabandoned, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for generatingincentives for online games.

BACKGROUND

In online games, a number of users play a game with each other via alocal area network, a wide area network, or a combination thereof. Also,some online games allow a user to play the game with a computerprocessor or a server processor rather than with another user. Theonline games are usually provided by a game provider, who is an entitythat develops games.

Some users play games for a large amount of time. However, some users donot play an online game that is offered by the game provider. Forexample, a logo of a game or a name of a game may not trigger aninterest of a user to play the game. As a result, amount of hours,effort, and costs spent by the game developer may be wasted.

It is within this context that embodiments described in the presentdisclosure arise.

SUMMARY

Embodiments described in the present disclosure provide methods andsystems for generating incentives for online gaming.

In a number of embodiments, an incentive is provided to a user torecommend a game to a target friend. The recommendation of a game may begenerated based on data regarding the user, data regarding the targetfriend, data regarding use of the game by the target friend, and/or dataregarding use of the game by the user. When the game is recommended tothe target friend, the user receives incentives for playing the game oranother game. For example, the user receives a virtual item for playinga Poker game or an action game. As another example, the user is promotedwith a game level or an energy level during play of a game.

In several embodiments, when the target friend accesses the game that isrecommended by the user, the target friend receives offer promotions,e.g., virtual items, energy level, game level, free game play,discounted game play, etc. Also, in a number of embodiments, when thetarget friend accesses the game that is recommended by the user, theuser receives incentives to play a game.

In some embodiments, a method for providing recommendations of onlinegames to friends of social network is described. The method includesidentifying a gaming session of a user on an online game providernetwork, accessing a use profile of the user for the online games of theonline game provider network, and accessing a social graph of the userto identify friends of the user and respective friend profiles from thesocial network. The method further includes producing a recommendationof an online game. The recommendation includes an identification of atarget friend of the user and is being provided by examination of theuse profile of the user and friend profiles in the social graph. Themethod includes providing the recommendation to the user. Therecommendation also includes an offer incentive to the user to share therecommendation with the target friend. The method is executed by one ormore processors.

In various embodiments, a system for providing recommendations of onlinegames to friends of a social network is described. The system includes amemory device for storing a use profile of a user for the online gamesof an online game provider network. The system further includes aprocessor for identifying a gaming session of the user on the onlinegame provider network. The processor is used for accessing the useprofile of the user for the online games, for accessing a social graphof the user to identify friends of the user and respective friendprofiles from the social network and for producing a recommendation ofan online game. The recommendation includes an identification of atarget friend of the user. The recommendation is provided by examinationof the use profile of the user and friend profiles in the social graph.The recommendation includes an offer incentive to the user to share therecommendation with the target friend.

In a number of embodiments, a method for providing recommendations ofonline games to friends of a social network is described. The methodincludes identifying a gaming session of a user on an online gameprovider network, accessing a use profile of the user for the onlinegames of the online game provider network, and accessing a social graphof the user to identify friends of the user and respective friendprofiles from the social network. The method further includes producinga recommendation of an online game. The recommendation includes anidentification of a target friend the user. The recommendation is beingprovided by examination of the use profile of the user and friendprofiles in the social graph. The method further includes providing therecommendation to the user. The recommendation includes an offerincentive to the user to share the recommendation with the targetfriend. The method also includes determining whether the recommendationis shared with the target friend, providing a reward within the offerincentive to the user upon determining that the recommendation is sharedwith the target friend, determining whether the target friend accessedthe online game, and sending an offer promotion for the target friendupon determining that the target friend accessed the online game. Themethod is executed by one or more processors

Other aspects described in the present disclosure will become apparentfrom the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, illustrating by way of example the principles ofvarious embodiments described in the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments described in the present disclosure may best beunderstood by reference to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an architecture for offering incentives to usersfor sharing game information, in accordance with one embodimentdescribed in the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a method for determining a game to suggest touser for recommending to a target friend based on group data, inaccordance with an embodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a continuation of the flowchart of the method of FIG. 2, inaccordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a compare logic module that compares datareceived from one or more databases to determine an identity of a gamethat is to be suggested to the target friend, in accordance with oneembodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a recommendation that is displayed besides a gameplayed by the user, in accordance with one embodiment described in thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a display screen that displays symbols ofmultiple mobile applications that are accessed for playing multiplegames on a mobile device, in accordance with one embodiment described inthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a display screen that displays a game that isaccessed using a web application on a mobile device, in accordance withone embodiment described in the present disclosure

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a display screen that displays a recommendationwithin a mobile gaming application on a mobile device, in accordancewith one embodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a suggestion of a game that isrecommended by the user to the target friend, in accordance with oneembodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a display screen that displays a recommendationwithin a web application on a mobile device to the target friend, inaccordance with one embodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of a display screen that displays a recommendationwithin a mobile application on a mobile device to the target friend, inaccordance with one embodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of a display screen that displays a pattern ofcircles used to illustrate a suggestion of the game to the targetfriend, in accordance with one embodiment described in the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of multiple graphs used to illustrate a dynamicchange in recommendation with a change in use of a game by users withinone or more networks, in accordance with one embodiment described in thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a client device, in accordance with oneembodiment described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of a server, in accordance with oneembodiment described in the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It should be noted that various embodiments described in the presentdisclosure may be practiced without some or all of these specificdetails. In other instances, well known process operations have not beendescribed in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure variousembodiments described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an embodiment of an architecture 100 for offeringincentives to users for sharing game information. The term “game”, asused herein, means a virtual game. For example, the term “game” excludesreal world sports that are played on a real landscape, such as grass,field, etc. As another example, a “game” is played on virtual grass orin a virtual field. As another example, a “game” is played via theInternet or the World Wide Web.

A data services module 131 collects data regarding one or more games.For example, the data services module 131 collects first game data thatis rendered at a client device to identify or play a first game,collects second game data that is rendered at a client device toidentify or play a second game, and collects third game data that isrendered at a client device to identify or play a third game. In severalembodiments, the data services module 131 collects game data for anynumber of games. Also, the first game is different than the second gameand the third game, and the second game is different than the thirdgame. For example, the first game has different rules than that of thesecond game, has different prizes than that in the second game, hasdifferent virtual characters than that in the second game, has differentmultimedia than that in the second game, has different data than that inthe second game, or a combination thereof.

A game is identified using a name the game, a logo of the game, a brandof the game, or a combination thereof. For example, a poker game that isdeveloped by Zynga™ Corporation of San Francisco, Calif. is namedzyngapoker™. As another example, a crossword puzzle game that isdeveloped by Zynga Corporation is named “WORDS with friends™”.

Examples of a client device include a mobile device and a desktopcomputer. Examples of a mobile device include a laptop, a smart phone, acell phone, a personal digital assistant, and a tablet.

Examples of a game include a game that is used to collect virtual coins,a game that is used to collect virtual items, a game that is played withvirtual friends, a game that is played with social network friends, agame that is played to fight with virtual enemies, a Poker game, a gamethat is played to build a virtual city, a game that is played to build avirtual farm, a game that is played to follow virtual clues to solve avirtual puzzle and to achieve a virtual goal, and a game in whichplayers take turns building words crossword puzzle style with anopponent.

The data services module 131 further obtains a portion of group data135, which includes information about a group of friends, e.g., friend1, friend 2, friend 3, etc., of a user 4, who is a friend 4. Forexample, the data services module 131 accesses, e.g., reads, groupattribute data 133 from one or more memory devices. Examples of a memorydevice include a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM),or a combination thereof. To illustrate, examples of a memory deviceinclude a flash memory, a disk array, and a hard disk.

In a number of embodiments, the friends of the user 4 are social networkfriends of the user 4. For example, the user 4 uses the client device150 ₄ to send a request via a web account of the user 4 within a socialnetwork 134 to add other users, e.g., user 1, user 2, user 3, etc., associal network friends 1, 2, and 3 of the user 4. The web account isassigned to the user 4 within the social network 134. When the otherusers accept the request, the other users become social network friendsof the user 4. Similarly, the user 4 becomes a network friend of theother users when the user 4 accepts requests sent via web accounts ofthe other users within the social network 134 to become social networkfriends of the other users. In several embodiments, when the other usersbecome social network friends of the user 4, the other users can accessvia their web accounts, multimedia and/or data, e.g., text, image,video, audio, that is posted by the user 4 in his/her web account andthat is restricted from access by anyone other than social networkfriends of the user 4.

In a number of embodiments, a friend is an example of a user. Forexample, the user 1 is friend 1, the user 2 is friend 2, and the user 3is friend 3.

In various embodiments, the other users are acquaintances, friends, orfamily members of the user 4 for whom the user 4 has email addresses. Insome embodiments, the other users are acquaintances, friends, or familymembers of the user 4 for whom the user 4 has user information thatallows the user 4 to use a game service to contact the other users.

In several embodiments, the group attribute data 133 includes a socialgraph 106, which includes relationships between the friends and the user4 within a social network. For example, a social graph indicates whethera user is a social network friend of another user. As another example, asocial graph includes a user profile 1 of friend 1, a user profile 2 offriend 2, and a user profile 3 of friend 3, and further includesassociations of the profiles with a user profile of the user 4.

In a number of embodiments, a user profile of a user includesinformation identifying the user, e.g., a name of the user, a gender ofthe user, an age of the user, a relationship status of the user,interests of the user, hobbies of the user, likes of the user, dislikesof the user, or a combination thereof.

The group data 135 includes the group attribute data 133, such as, forexample demographic data. The group attribute data 133 is associatedwith one or more of the friends of the user 4. Examples of groupattribute data 133 include an age of a friend, a gender of a friend, arelationship status of a friend, interests of a friend, hobbies of afriend, likes of a friend, dislikes of a friend, or a combinationthereof.

In several embodiments, the group attribute data 133 is unrelated to agame that friends play. For example, the group attribute data 133includes movies that are liked or disliked by a friend, geographicallocations that are liked or disliked by the friend, real world sportsthat are liked or disliked by the friend, etc.

The group data 135 also includes group behavior data 137, which isassociated with a game that is played by the group of friends. The groupbehavior data 137 includes a use profile 104 of the user 4 and useprofiles 130 of the friends of the user 4. To illustrate, a use profileof a user for a game includes data regarding use of the game by theuser. Examples of data regarding use of a game include a number ofgaming sessions the game is played by the user during a time period, anamount of time during each gaming session the game is played by the userfor a number of gaming sessions during the time period, a number ofdownloads of the game by the user during the time period after the userlogs into his/her user account, a number of times a preview of the gameis viewed by the user during the time period after the user logs intothe user account, a number of times the game is indicated as being likedby the user within the user account during the time period, a number oftimes the game is indicated as being disliked by the user within theuser account during the time period, a number of times a mention of thegame is posted within the user account, and/or whether the user paid toplay the game after the user logged into user account. In a number ofembodiments, a use profile is created when a user uses, e.g., plays,indicates like, indicates dislike, downloads, watches a preview of, etc.of a game via a user account of the user.

It should be noted that a mention of a game is a positive mention of thegame. For example, a mention of a game includes a statement in whichadvantages of the game are stated. In various embodiments, a usermentions a game within a post, during a chat, or a combination thereof.A chat, as used herein, refers to an online chat.

In some embodiments, a game is previewed when after accessing a portiona game at a client device, a GPU of a client device renders a portion ofgame data to display the portion of the game. In several embodiments, auser indicates a game as being liked or disliked by logging into a webaccount of the user and selecting an icon that is displayed within aservice, such as a social network service, a gaming service, or an emailservice.

In several embodiments, a gaming session starts when a user startsplaying, such as, for example, interacting with, a game after logginginto a service, such as, for example, a game service, an email service,or a social network service. As an example, a user starts playing a gamewhen the user starts to interact with the game. Also, the gaming sessionends when a user stops playing a game or when the user logs out of aservice. A user stops playing a game when the user stops interactingwith the game. A social network service is provided via the socialnetwork 133 and a game service is provided via the game provider network102.

In several embodiments, a game service is displayed at a client devicewhen one or more servers execute a game application. A server may be aphysical server or a virtual machine. An application includes a computerprogram. One or more servers execute a game application to generate gamedata. In various embodiments, a social network service is displayed at aclient device when one or more servers execute a social networkapplication. Users use a social network service to chat online withother users, to share posts with web accounts of other users, to postmultimedia to one or more web accounts, or a combination thereof. Insome embodiments, an email service is displayed at a client device thatis operated by a user to send and receive emails from other users.

To log into a user account, a user provides user information, such as,for example a user name, a password, a telephone number, an answer to asecurity question, user identifying information, or a combinationthereof, to a client device that is operated by the user, and a networkinterface controller (NIC) of the client device sends the userinformation to a server system via a network 136. Examples of a NICinclude a network interface card and a network adapter. Examples of thenetwork 136 include a wide area network (WAN), a local area network(LAN), or a combination thereof. To illustrate, the network 136 is theInternet, an Intranet, or a combination thereof. A WAN includes awireless WAN, a wired WAN, or a combination thereof. Similarly, a LANincludes a wireless LAN, a wired LAN, or a combination thereof.

An authentication server of a server system authenticates the userinformation based on information that is pre-stored within theauthentication server. For example, the authentication server determinesthat the user information is authentic when there is a match between theuser information and the pre-stored information. Otherwise, theauthentication server determines that the user information isunauthentic. When the authentication server determines that the userinformation is authentic, a user who provided the user information logsinto a user account that is assigned to the user.

In several embodiments, a user account is assigned to a user when thepre-stored information is received from the user with an indication thatthe user is not a bot. In various embodiments, the server systemincludes the game provider network 102 and/or the social network 134. Insome embodiments, the game provider network 102 includes one or moreservers that are coupled with each other. Similarly, in a number ofembodiments, the social network 134 includes one or more servers thatare coupled with each other. As used herein, a server includes a virtualmachine or a physical machine that includes one or more processors, oneor more memory devices, and one or more NICs. A processor, as usedherein, includes a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a programmable logicdevice (PLD).

A logic engine 139 receives the group data 135 and game data, such as,for example, the first game data, the second game data, and the thirdgame data, and processes the group data 135 and the game data togenerate recommendation data 141. As an example, the logic engine 139uses the group data 135 to determine the first game, e.g., game 1, agame 145, etc., among the first, second, and third games forrecommendation by the user 4 to a target friend, e.g., friend 1. Toillustrate, the logic engine 139 determines that the first game isplayed less frequently by the target friend of the user 4 than each ofthe second and third games, the first game is played for a shorter timeby the target friend than each of the second and third games during eachgaming session for a pre-determined number of gaming sessions, a previewof the first game is watched less often by the target friend thanpreviews of each of the second and third games, the first game isdownloaded for a lower number of times by the target friend than anumber of times each of the second and third games are downloaded by thetarget friend, or a combination thereof. In this example, the logicengine 139 determines that the user 4 recommend the first game to thetarget friend instead of the second and third games.

As another example, the logic engine 139 determines that the first gameis played by a group of users that are of a same or similar age, same orsimilar relationship status, same or similar interests, same or similarhobbies, same or similar likes, same or similar dislikes, or acombination thereof, as that of the target friend. In this example, thelogic engine 139 determines that each of the second and third games isplayed by a group of users that are of a different age, differentrelationship status, different interests, different hobbies, differentlikes, different dislikes, or a combination thereof, compared to that ofthe target friend to whom the first game is to be recommended for play.In this example, the logic engine 139 determines that the user 4recommend the first game to the target friend compared to the second andthird games.

As still another example, the logic engine 139 determines that the firstgame is played by a group of users that are of a same or similar age,same or similar relationship status, same or similar interests, same orsimilar hobbies, same or similar likes, same or similar dislikes, or acombination thereof, as that of the target friend to whom the first gameis to be suggested for play. In this example, the logic engine 139further determines that the each of the second and third game is playedless frequently, previewed for a lesser number of times, downloaded fora lower number of times, played for a lesser amount of time during eachgaming session, indicated as liked for a lower number of times,indicated as disliked for a higher number of times, or a combinationthereof, by the group of users compared to the first game. In thisexample, the logic engine 139 determines that the user 4 recommend thefirst game to the target friend compared to the second and third games.

As an example, two users have a similar parameter when values of theparameter are within a threshold. To illustrate, two users have asimilar age when a first of the two users has an age between 12 and 24and a second of the two users has an age between 12 and 24. As anotherexample, two users have a similar parameter when sub-categories of theparameter are different and the sub-categories fall within one category.To illustrate, two users have a similar hobby when a first of the twousers lists golf as a hobby and a second of the two users lists cricketas a sport in their web accounts that are used to access a socialnetwork service. Both cricket and golf are outdoor real world sports. Asanother illustration, two users have a similar like when a first of thetwo users lists Jackie Chan as his/her favorite actor and a second ofthe two users lists Jet Li as his/her favorite actor. Both Jackie Chanand Jet Li act in martial arts movies. Other examples of a parameterinclude gender, relationship status, interest, like, and dislike.

In several embodiments, the logic engine 139 is part of the gameprovider network 102. The game provider network 102 includes a useraccount 132 of the user 4, the use profiles 130 of friends of the user4, user accounts 148 of the friends, the first game data, the secondgame data, the third game data, and the use profile 104 of the user 4.The use profiles 104 and 130 are parts of group behavior data 137.

In several embodiments, the user accounts 148 and 132 are web accountswithin the social network 134 rather than accounts within the gameprovider network 102. In a number of embodiments, the user accounts 132and 148 are located within one network, e.g., the game provider network102 or the social network 134.

The recommendation data 141 is sent via a network 136 to a client device150 ₄ that is operated by the user 4. A processor, e.g., a graphicalprocessing unit (GPU), of the client device 150 ₄ processes therecommendation data 141 to display a recommendation 108 of the game 145on a display screen of the client device 150 ₄ to recommend to thetarget friend. Examples of a display screen include a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) display screen, a light emitting diode (LED) displayscreen, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display screen, and a plasma displayscreen.

In several embodiments, the recommendation 108 includes social contextsof users based on whom the game 145 is identified within therecommendation 108. Examples of a social context include anidentification of an entity that offers a social network service to oneor more users. Examples of identification of an entity include a name ofthe entity, a logo of the entity, or a combination thereof. Examples ofan entity include a corporation and a partnership.

In various embodiments, the recommendation 108 includes an offerincentive 110 for the user 4. The offer incentive 110 provides anincentive to the user 4 to recommend the game 145 to the target friend.For example, the offer incentive 110 includes a message that a rewardmentioned, e.g., described, identified, etc. within the offer incentive110 will be provided to the user 4 when the user 4 shares the game 145with the target friend. In a number of embodiments, the user 4 shares agame with another user when the user 4 selects a share button that isdisplayed on the client device 150 ₄ via a web account of the user 4. Inseveral embodiments, the user 4 shares a game with another user when theuser 4 sends an email recommending the game 145 to the target friend.

Examples of a reward include virtual items that are related to a game,e.g., a game 152 that the user 4 plays, any other game, etc. In variousembodiments, virtual items include collectibles and virtual currencies,such as, for example, virtual coins. A virtual item that is not avirtual currency is a collectible. For example, virtual wood, virtualstars, game level, energy level, points, credits, virtual food, andvirtual crops are collectibles. In a number of embodiments, a rewardincludes virtual items, a discount for playing a game, a discount forobtaining items during play of a game, free play of a game, free itemsduring play of a game, or a combination thereof. In various embodiments,the game 145 is the same as the game 152.

The recommendation 108 indicates to the user 4 that the user 4 willreceive a reward mentioned in the offer incentive 110 after the user 4recommends the game 145 to the target friend. The recommendation 108also includes the user information identifying the target friend. Forexample, the recommendation 108 includes a user name of the targetfriend, an image of the target friend, or a combination thereof. Invarious embodiments, the recommendation 108 includes a message to theuser 4 that the user 4 should suggest the game 145 to the target friend.In these embodiments, the recommendation 108 excludes the offerincentive 110. In a number of embodiments, the recommendation 108includes a social context of the target friend. For example, therecommendation 108 includes a social network service that is accessed bythe target friend to play a game that is provided by the game providernetwork 108.

The user 4 uses an input device of the client device 150 ₄ to select abutton, e.g., a send recommendation button, displayed on the displayscreen of the client device 150 ₄. Examples of an input device include akeyboard, a mouse, a stylus, and a touchscreen. The send recommendationbutton is selected to recommend the game 145 to the target friend. Invarious embodiments, instead of a button selection, an interfaceselection, a menu selection, etc. is provided. Upon receiving anindication of a selection of the send recommendation button, a NIC ofthe client device 150 ₄ sends the indication via the network 136 to thegame provider network 102. Upon receiving the indication of theselection of the send recommendation button and upon determining thatthe target friend is logged on to his/her user account, the gameprovider network 102 generates and sends offer promotion data 151 viathe network 136 to a client device 150 ₁ that is operated by the targetfriend. The offer promotion data 151 includes an identity of the game145 within a suggestion of the game 145 for play by the target friend.Other two client devices 150 ₂ and 150 ₂ are operated by the friends 2and 3.

A GPU of the client device 150 ₁ processes the offer promotion data 151to display an offer promotion 140 on a display screen of the clientdevice 150 ₁. The offer promotion 140 includes a suggestion of the game145 for the target friend. The offer promotion data 151 is stored withina user account of the target friend.

In various embodiments, the offer promotion 140 includes an incentivefor the target friend to play the game 145. For example, the offerpromotion 140 indicates to the target friend that the target friend willreceive a discount for playing the game 145, will play the game 145 forfree for a number of times, will receive a discount for play anothergame for playing the game 145, will play the other game for free for anumber of times for playing the game 145, will receive virtual items forfree during play of the game 145, will receive virtual items for freeduring play of the other game for playing the game 145, or a combinationthereof. In a number of embodiments, the offer promotion 140 includessocial contexts of users based on whom the game 145 is identified withinthe offer promotion 140.

When the target friend accesses the game 145 from the game providernetwork 102 via the network 136, a NIC of the client device 150 ₁ sendsan indication of the access via the network 136 to the game providernetwork 136. Upon receiving the indication of the access, the gameprovider network 136 generates and sends discount data, virtual itemdata, or any other data as reward data to fulfill the offer promotion140 to the client device 150 ₁ via the network 136. The reward data isrendered by the GPU of the client device 150 ₁ to display a reward forthe target friend for accessing the game 145 via an input device of theclient device 150 ₁. The target friend can access the reward, e.g., avirtual item, a discounted game play, free game play, by selecting orhovering over the reward.

In a number of embodiments, when the target friend accesses the game 145from the game provider network 102, the game provider network 102generates and sends a reward to the client device 150 ₄ via the network136. The game provider network 102 generates and sends the reward to theclient device 150 ₄ when the user 4 accesses the user account 132.

It should be noted that each of a module and an engine, as used herein,includes a hardware, a software, or a combination thereof. For example,a module or an engine includes a computer program that is executed byone or more processors. As another example, a module or an engineincludes an ASIC or a PLD that performs the operations described hereinas performed by the module. As yet another example, a module or anengine includes one or more processors and one or more memory devicesthat store a computer program that is executed by the one or moreprocessors.

Moreover, it should be noted that although three user profiles and useprofiles of three friends of the user 4 are described, in a number ofembodiments, a number of user profiles and use profiles of any number ofusers can be used. Also, it should be noted that in various embodiments,the operations, e.g., generation, etc., other than communicationoperations, described above as being performed by a network, e.g., thegame provider network 102, the social network 134, etc., are performedby one or more processors of one or more servers of the network. Inthese embodiments, the communication operations, e.g., sending,receiving, etc., are performed by one or more NICs of one or moreservers of the network.

In several embodiments, each user account is within a different networkand each network is of a different type. For example, a network thatincludes the user account 130 is a social network, a network thatincludes a user account of the target friend is a game provider network,and a network that includes a user account of the friend 2 is an emailnetwork.

In various embodiments, two or more of the networks in which the useraccounts 132 and 148 are located are of the same type and are networksthat are controlled by different entities. For example, a network thatincludes the user account 132 is a social network that is controlled bya first entity and a network that includes a user account of the targetfriend is a social network that is controlled by a second entity, whichis other than the first entity.

In some embodiments, a user account of a user is located within anetwork that is controlled by a different entity than that controlling auser account of another user. Moreover, in these embodiments, the useraccounts are of the same type. For example, a network that includes theuser account 132 of the user 4 is a game provider network that iscontrolled by an entity that develops games and a network that includesa user account of the target friend is a game provider network that iscontrolled by another entity that develops games.

In several embodiments, the game provider network 102 and the socialnetwork 134 are controlled by the same entity. For example, all serversof the game provider network 102 and the social network 134 arecontrolled by an entity that develops games. In a number of embodiments,servers of the game provider network 102 are controlled by an entitythat is other than an entity that controls the servers of the socialnetwork 134. For example, a server of the game provider network 102 iscontrolled by an entity that develops games and a server of the socialnetwork 134 is controlled by an entity that develops a social networkservice. In various embodiments, an entity controls a server when theentity leases or owns server to use the server for executing a computerprogram.

In some embodiments, a user account of a user is located within anetwork that is controlled by a different entity than that controlling auser account of another user. Moreover, in these embodiments, the useraccounts are of different types. For example, a network that includesthe user account 132 is a social network and a network that includes auser account of the target friend is a game provider network and thesocial network is controlled by a different entity than that controllingthe game provider network. In these embodiments, the entity controllingthe social network develops the social network and the entitycontrolling the game provider network develops games.

In a number of embodiments, a game provider network is formed when oneor more processors of one or more servers execute a game application toprovide a game service at one or more client devices. The game serviceis accessed by a user via a user account, e.g., a game service account,to play a game.

In a number of embodiments, a user profile, a user account, or a useprofile is stored within one or more memory devices of a network. Forexample, the user profiles of the users 1, 2, 3, and 4 are stored in oneor more memory devices of the social network 134. As another example,the use profiles 130 and 104 of the users 1 thru 4 are stored in one ormore memory devices of the game provider network 102. As yet anotherexample, the user accounts 148 and 132 are stored in one or more memorydevices of the game provider network 102.

The group data 135 is stored in one or more memory devices. For example,the group attribute data 133 is stored in one or more memory devices andthe group behavior data 137 is stored in one or more memory devices.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method 120 for determining agame to suggest to the user 4 for recommending to the target friendbased on the group data 135 (FIG. 1). The method 120 is executed by oneor more processors of one or more servers of a server system, e.g., thegame provider network 102, the social network 134, or a combinationthereof.

In an operation 122, a gaming session of the user 4 (FIG. 1) on the gameprovider network 102 (FIG. 2) is identified. For example, a processor ofthe game provider network 102 determines that the user 4 is engaged in agaming session. As another example, a processor of the game providernetwork 102 determines that the user 4 logged into the user account 132(FIG. 1) and is playing a game, e.g., game 152 (FIG. 1). In severalembodiments, the game 152 is played by accessing game data from the gameprovider network 102.

In an operation 124, the use profile 104 of the user 4 regarding play ofone or more games is accessed, e.g., read, from a memory device of thegame provider network 102. For example, data regarding usage of theonline first, second, and third games by the user 4 via the user account132 is read. In this example, the user account 132 logged into by theuser 4 to access the online games. In a number of embodiments, the game152 is an example of the second game.

Moreover, in an operation 126, the social graph 106 of the user 4 thatis received from the social network 134 via the network 136 by the gameprovider network 102 is accessed from a memory device of the gameprovider network 102. A NIC of the social network 134 sends the socialgraph 106 via the network 136 to a NIC of the game provider network 102.The user profile of the user 4 is accessed to determine the userprofiles 1, 2, and 3 of the friends. For example, from the user profileof the user 4, friends of the user 4 are determined and user profiles 1,2, and 3 of the friends 1, 2, and 3 are accessed from a memory device ofthe game provider network 102.

In an operation 128, the recommendation data 141 is generated from theuser profile and use profile of the user 4 and the user profiles and useprofiles of the friends 1, 2, and 3. For example, the recommendationdata 141 is generated from the group data 135 (FIG. 1). Therecommendation data 141 includes an identification of the game 145(FIG. 1) and/or data regarding the offer incentive 110 (FIG. 1) for theuser 4.

The recommendation data 141 is generated based on data regarding thefriends of the user 4, data regarding the user 4, data regarding use ofthe game 145 by the target friend, data regarding use of the game 145 bythe friends 2, 3 and 4, data regarding use of games other than game 145by the target friend, data regarding use of games other than game 145 bythe friends 2, 3 and 4, or a combination thereof. To illustrate, if thetarget friend has the same or similar age, the same or similar gender,the same or similar relationship status, the same or similar interests,the same or similar hobbies, the same or similar likes, the same orsimilar dislikes, or a combination thereof, as that of the friends 2, 3and 4, the game 145, which is played by the friends 2, 3 and 4, isidentified to the user 4 at the client device 150 ₄.

As another illustration, if each user 2, 3, or 4:

-   -   (a) plays the game 145 for a higher number of gaming sessions        than a number of gaming sessions for which the other games are        played by the user at a corresponding one of the client devices        150, or    -   (b) plays the game 145 for a longer time than an amount of time        for which the other games are played by the user during each        gaming session for a pre-determined number of gaming sessions,        or    -   (c) watches previews of the game 145 more often than previews of        the other games are watched by the user, or    -   (d) has indicated the game 145 as being liked for a higher        number of times than a number of times for which the other games        are indicated as being liked by the user,    -   (e) has indicated the game 145 as being disliked for a lower        number of times than a number of times for which the other games        are indicated as being disliked by the user, or    -   (f) has accessed the game 145 to a corresponding one of the        client devices 150 operated by the user for a higher number of        times than a number of times the other games are accessed to the        client device, or    -   (g) has mentioned the game 145 within a corresponding web        account of the user for a higher number of times than mentioning        the other games within the web account, or    -   (h) paid to play the game 145 after the user logs into his/her        corresponding web account, or    -   (i) paid a higher amount to play the game 145 compared to the        other games, or    -   (j) a combination thereof,    -   the game 145 is identified to the user 4 within the        recommendation 108 at the client device 150 ₄. It should be        noted that a client device corresponds to a user when the user        operates the client device to access a web account of the user.

As yet another illustration, if each user 2, 3, or 4:

-   -   (a) plays the game 145 for a higher number of gaming sessions        than a number of gaming sessions for which the game 145 is        played by the target friend at the client device 150 ₁, or    -   (b) plays the game 145 for a longer time than an amount of time        for which the game 145 is played by the target friend at the        client device 150 ₁ during each gaming session for a        pre-determined number of gaming sessions, or    -   (c) watches previews of the game 145 more often than previews of        the game 145 are watched by the target friend, or    -   (d) has indicated the game 145 as being liked for a higher        number of times than a number of times for which the game 145 is        indicated as being liked by the target friend, or    -   (e) has indicated the game 145 as being disliked for a lower        number of times than a number of times for which the game 145 is        indicated as being disliked by the target friend, or    -   (f) has downloaded the game 145 to a corresponding one of the        client devices 150 ₂, 150 ₃, and 150 ₄ for a higher number of        times than a number of times the game 145 is downloaded to the        client device 150 ₁ by the target friend, or    -   (g) has mentioned the game 145 within their web accounts for a        higher number of times than a number of times for which the game        145 is mentioned within the web account of the target friend, or    -   (h) a combination thereof,    -   the game 145 is identified within the recommendation 108 to the        user 4 at the client device 150 ₄.

As another illustration, if each user 2, 3, or 4:

-   -   (a) has the same or similar age as that of the target friend, or    -   (b) has the same or similar gender as that of the target friend,        or    -   (c) has the same or similar relationship status as that of the        target friend, or    -   (d) has the same or similar interests as that of the target        friend, or    -   (e) has the same or similar hobbies as that of the target        friend, or    -   (f) has the same or similar likes as that of the target friend,        or    -   (g) has the same or similar dislikes as that of the target        friend, or    -   (h) plays the game 145 for a higher number of gaming sessions        than a number of gaming sessions for which other games are        played by the corresponding user 2, 3, or 4 at a corresponding        one of the client devices 150 ₂, 150 ₃, and 150 ₄, or    -   (i) plays the game 145 for a longer time than an amount of time        for which the other games are played by the corresponding user        2, 3, or 4 during each gaming session for a pre-determined        number of gaming sessions, or    -   (j) watches previews of the game 145 more often than previews of        the other games are watched by the corresponding user 2, 3, or        4, or    -   (k) has indicated the game 145 as being liked for a higher        number of times than a number of times for which the other games        are indicated as being liked by the corresponding user 2, 3, or        4, or    -   (l) has indicated the game 145 as being disliked for a lower        number of times than a number of times for which the other games        are indicated as being disliked by the corresponding user 2, 3,        or 4, or    -   (m) has downloaded the game 145 to a corresponding one of the        client devices 150 ₂, 150 ₃, and 150 ₄ for a higher number of        times than a number of times the other games are downloaded to        the corresponding one of the client devices 150 ₂, 150 ₃, and        150 ₄, or    -   (n) has mentioned the game 145 within a corresponding web        account for a higher number of times than mentioning the other        games within the corresponding web account, or    -   (o) paid to play the game 145 after logging into a corresponding        web account, or    -   (p) paid a higher amount to play the game 145 compared to the        other games, or    -   (q) plays the game 145 for a higher number of gaming sessions        than a number of gaming sessions for which the game 145 is        played by the target friend at the client device 150 ₁, or    -   (r) plays the game 145 for a longer time than an amount of time        for which the game 145 is played by the target friend at the        client device 150 ₁ during each gaming session for a        pre-determined number of gaming sessions, or    -   (s) watches previews of the game 145 more often than previews of        the game 145 are watched by the target friend, or    -   (t) has indicated the game 145 as being liked for a higher        number of times than a number of times for which the game 145 is        indicated as being liked by the target friend, or    -   (u) has indicated the game 145 as being disliked for a lower        number of times than a number of times for which the game 145 is        indicated as being disliked by the target friend, or    -   (v) has downloaded the game 145 to the corresponding one of the        client devices 150 ₂, 150 ₃, and 150 ₄ for a higher number of        times than a number of times the game 145 is downloaded to the        client device 150 ₁ by the target friend, or    -   (w) has mentioned the game 145 within the corresponding web        account for a higher number of times than a number of times for        which the game 145 is mentioned within a web account of the user        1 by the user 1, or    -   (x) a combination thereof,    -   the game 145 is identified within the recommendation 108 to the        user 4 at the client device 150 ₄.

In various embodiments, in the preceding illustration, instead of anumber of times, an average of a number of times is used. For example,instead of determining whether the game 145 is played for a longer timethan an amount of time for which the other games are played by each user2, 3, and 4 during each gaming session for a pre-determined number ofgaming sessions, it is determined whether an average amount of time forwhich each user 2, 3, and 4 plays the game 145 for the pre-determinednumber of gaming sessions is longer than an average amount of time forwhich the other games are played by the user for the pre-determinednumber of gaming sessions. As another example, instead of determiningwhether each user 2, 3, and 4 has indicated the game 145 as being likedfor a higher number of times than a number of times for which the othergames are indicated as being liked by the user, the number of times forwhich each user 2, 3, and 4 has indicated the game 145 as being liked isaveraged over a period of time to generate a first average and thenumber of times for which each user 2, 3, and 4 has indicated the othergames as being liked is averaged over the time period to generate asecond average, and it is determined whether the first average isgreater than the second average.

Also, in some embodiments, in the preceding illustration, instead of thecombination, a weighted combination is used. For example, whether eachuser 2, 3, and 4 paid to play the game 145 after the user logged into acorresponding web account of the user is assigned a higher weight than aweight assigned to whether each user 2, 3, and 4 has mentioned the game145 within the corresponding web account of the user for a higher numberof times than mentioning the other games within the corresponding webaccount. As another example, a factor of whether each user 2, 3, and 4has indicated the game 145 as being disliked for a lower number of timesthan a number of times for which the other games are indicated as beingdisliked by the user is assigned a higher weight than a weight assignedto a factor of whether the user plays the game 145 for a longer timethan an amount of time for which the game 145 is played by the targetfriend at the client device 150 ₁ during each gaming session for apre-determined number of gaming sessions.

In various embodiments, in the preceding illustration, instead of or inaddition to the determination that each user 2, 3, and 4 plays the game145 for a longer time than an amount of time for which the other gamesare played by the user during each gaming session for a pre-determinednumber of gaming sessions, it is determined that a virtual item withinthe game 145 has a higher magnitude than a virtual within each of theother games. For example, it is determined whether an energy levelwithin the game 145 is higher than an energy level within each of thesecond and third games. As another example, it is determined whether anumber of virtual coins or virtual points accumulated during a play ofthe game 145 is greater than a number of virtual points or virtual coinswithin a play of each of the second and third games.

When the user 4 uses the client device 150 ₄ to log into his/her webaccount to play a game, such as, for example, the game 152, in anoperation 129, a NIC of the game provider network 102 sends therecommendation data 141 to the NIC of the client device 150 ₄. The GPUof the client device 150 ₄ renders the recommendation data 141 todisplay the recommendation 108 that indicates to the user 4 that theuser 4 recommend the game 145 to the target friend. For example, therecommendation 108 includes information identifying the target friendand the game 145. The user 4 sees the recommendation 108 and a messageindicating that the user 145 recommend the game 145 to the targetfriend. In various embodiments, the recommendation includes the offerincentive 110 (FIG. 1) that mentions a reward and the reward is providedto the user 4 by the game provider network 102 when the user 4recommends the game 145 to the target friend. The user 4 decides torecommend the game 145 to the target friend.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the method 120. In an operation 142, it isdetermined whether a suggestion of the game 145 is shared with thetarget friend. For example, it is determined whether an indication of aselection of a button, e.g., a share button, a like button, etc., isreceived from the client device 150 ₄ to share an identity of the game145 with the target friend. In this example, the user 4 is logged intothe user account 132. In response to receiving the indication of theselection of the button, it is determined that the user 4 wishes toshare the identity of the game 145 with the target friend. On the otherhand, in response to determining that the indication of the selection isnot received, it is determined that the user 4 does not wish to sharethe identity of the game 145 with the target friend.

As another example, it is determined whether an indication that asuggestion of the game 145 is sent to a user account of the targetfriend is received. For example, when an indication of a selection of abutton, e.g., a share button, a like button, etc., is received from theclient device 150 ₄, an identity of the game 145 is sent to a useraccount of the target friend. In this example, the user 4 is logged intothe user account 132. Also, in this example, it is determined that asuggestion of the game 145 is sent to the user account of the targetfriend.

As another example, it is determined whether an indication of aselection of a button, e.g., a share button, a like button, etc., thatallows the user 4 to share an identity of the game 145 is received fromthe client device 150 ₄ via the network 136. In this example, the user 4is logged into the user account 132. In response to determining that theindication of the selection of the button is received, menu data isgenerated and sent to the client device 150 ₄. The menu data isprocessed to render a menu on the display screen of the client device150 ₄. The menu prompts the user 4 whether the user 4 wishes to sharethe identity with the target friend or also with other friends 2 and 3of the user 4. The user 4 identifies via the input device of the clientdevice 150 ₄ friends with whom the user 4 wishes to share the identityof the game 145. In response to receiving an indication of the selectionof the button, it is determined that the user 4 wishes to share theidentity of the game 145 with the friends that the user 4 hasidentified. On the other hand, in response to determining that theidentification of any friends is not received, it is determined that theuser 4 does not wish to share the identity of the game 145 with anyfriends of the user 4.

Upon determining that the user 4 does not wish to share a suggestion ofthe game 145 with the target friend, the method 120 ends. On the otherhand, in response to determining that the user 4 wishes to share asuggestion of the game 145 with the target friend, in an operation 143,a reward mentioned within the offer incentive 110 is provided to theuser 4. For example, when it is determined that an indication of aselection of a button, e.g., a share button, a like button, etc., isreceived from the user 4 via the input device of the client device 150 ₄to indicate that the user 4 wishes to suggest the game 145 to the targetfriend, the user 4 is awarded virtual items for a game. The game forwhich the user 4 is awarded virtual items may be a game that the user 4plays most frequently than the other games, a game that the logic engine139 (FIG. 1) determines be recommended to the user 4 for play by theuser 4 based on the use profile 104 and/or user profile of the user 4,or any other game that is offered by the game provider network 102. Anexample of a manner in which a game is recommended to the user 4 forplay by the user 4 based on a use profile and/or a user profile of theuser 4 is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/537,846. Asanother example, when it is determined that an indication of a selectionof a button, e.g., a share button, a like button, etc., and identitiesof friends of the user 4 with whom the user 4 wishes to share theidentity of the game 145 is received, a reward mentioned within theoffer incentive 110 is provided to the user 4.

In an operation 144, it is determined whether the target friend accessedthe game 145 that is shared by the user 4. For example, it is determinedwhether an indication of a selection of a button, e.g., a downloadbutton, a play button, to download one or more portions of the game 145is received via an input device of the client device 150 ₁. In thisexample, the target friend is logged into his/her user account. Inresponse to determining that the indication of the selection of a buttonto access the game 145 is not received, the method 120 ends. On theother hand, in response to determining that the indication of theselection of a button to access the game 145 is received, in anoperation 146, reward data, e.g., discount data, virtual item data, orany other data, to fulfill the offer promotion 140 is sent to the clientdevice 150 ₁ via the network 136. For example, the target friendreceives a discount towards another game that may be accessed via thegame provider network 102, receives a virtual item during play of thegame 145, receives a virtual item during another game that is accessedfrom the game provider network 102, or a combination thereof. The method120 ends after the operation 146.

In several embodiments, in response to determining that the indicationof the selection of a button to access the game 145 is received, thegame provider network 102 generates and sends incentive data via thenetwork 136 to the client device 150 ₄. The incentive data is sent whenthe user 4 accesses the user account 132. The GPU of the client device150 ₄ processes the incentive data to provide incentives to the user 4for a game, e.g., game 145, game 152, etc. Examples of the incentivesinclude virtual items, discount offer to play a game, free game play,game level during a game, energy level during a game, points during agame, etc.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment of a compare logic module 205 thatcompares data received from one or more databases to determine anidentity of the game 145 (FIG. 1) that is to be suggested to the targetfriend. In several embodiments, the compare logic module 205 is executedby a processor of the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1).

The compare logic module 205 receives data 173 regarding the users 2thru 4, who are friends of the target friend (FIG. 1), data 175regarding the target friend (FIG. 1), data 177 regarding use of the game145 by the users 2 thru 4, data 179 regarding use of the game 145 by thetarget friend, and/or data 181 regarding use of the other games by theusers 2 thru 4. In some embodiments, the compare logic module 205compares the data 173 regarding the users 2 thru 4 with data 175regarding the target friend to determine whether a value of a parameterof the target friend and one or more values of the parameter of theusers 2 thru 4 are the same or similar. For example, the compare logicmodule 205 determines whether an age of the target friend is the same orsimilar to that of ages of the users 2 thru 4. As another example, thecompare logic module 205 determines whether likes of the target friendare the same or similar to likes of the users 2 thru 4.

Moreover, in various embodiments, the compare logic module 205 comparesthe data 177 regarding use of the game 145 by the users 2 thru 4 withdata 179 regarding use of the game 145 by the target friend. Forexample, a number of gaming sessions for which the game 145 is played bythe users 2 thru 4 is compared with a number of gaming sessions forwhich the game 145 is played by the target friend. As another example, anumber of times for which the game 145 is indicated as being liked bythe users 2 thru 4 is compared with a number of times for which the game145 is indicated as being liked by the target friend.

In some embodiments, the compare logic 205 compares the data 177regarding use of the game 145 by the users 2 thru 4 with data 181regarding use of the other games by the users 2 thru 4. For example, anumber of gaming sessions for which the game 145 is played by the users2 thru 4 is compared with a number of gaming sessions for which each ofthe other games are played by the users 2 thru 4. As another example, anamount of time for which the game 145 is played by the users 2 thru 4for a pre-determined number of gaming sessions is compared with anamount of time for which each of the other games is played by the users2 thru 4 for the pre-determined number of gaming sessions.

The data 177 includes data 183 regarding receipt of payment from theusers 2 thru 4 to play the game 145 and the data 180 includes data 185regarding receipt of payment from the users 2 thru 4 to play the othergames. For example, a processor of the gaming provider network 102(FIG. 1) determines whether the users 2 thru 4 have paid to play thegame 145 and have not paid to play other games. In various embodiments,a payment to play a game is received in the form of fiat money, credit,virtual currency, or a combination thereof. In response to determiningthat the users 2 thru 4 have not paid to play the other games and havepaid to play the game 145, the processor determines to send anidentification of the game 145 to send to the client device 150 ₄. Onthe other hand, in response to determining that the users 2 thru 4 havepaid to play the other games and have not paid to play the game 145, theprocessor determines to send an identification of one of the other gamesinstead of the identification of the game 145.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment of a recommendation 156 that isdisplayed besides a game 159 played by the user 4 (FIG. 1). The game 159is an example of the game 152 (FIG. 1). The game 159 is played on adisplay screen 154, which is an example of the display screen of theclient device 150 ₄ (FIG. 1).

The user 4 logs into the user account 132 (FIG. 1) to play the game 159.For example, the user 4 accesses a web page of a game developer from aserver of the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1). In this example, whenthe user 4 selects an identification of the game 159 on the web page viathe input device of the client device 150 ₄, the GPU of the clientdevice 150 ₄ displays a prompt on the display screen 154 to prompt theuser 4 to provide the user information. When the user 4 provides theuser information via the input device of the client device 150 ₄, anauthentication server determines whether the user information isauthentic. Upon receiving a determination from the authentication serverthat the user information is authentic, a server of the game providernetwork 102 provides access to the game 159 to the user 4. Examples of agame developer include an entity that develops games, described hereinand an entity that owns legal rights to the games.

In several embodiments, the authentication server is separate from thegame provider network 102 and the social network 134. In variousembodiments, the authentication server is part of the game providernetwork 102 and the social network 134.

In various embodiments, instead of accessing a web page of the gamedeveloper first and then providing the use information, the user 4 firstprovides the user information and then accesses the web page of the gamedeveloper. For example, the user 4 requests a web page of a serviceprovider, provides the user information to the authentication server viathe web page to log into the user account 132, requests another web pageof the game developer, and then selects an identification of the game159. Upon receiving the indication of the identification of the game159, a server of the game provider network 102 provides access to thegame 159 to the user 4.

Examples of a service provider include an entity that develops a gameservice, a social network service, and/or an email service. Otherexamples of a service provider include an entity that owns legal rightsto a service.

As shown in FIG. 5, upon logging into the user account 132 and accessinga webpage having a uniform resource location (URL)“www.gamedeveloper.com/#/play/game2”, the user 4 plays the game 159. Inseveral embodiments, the web page shown in FIG. 5 is one of many webpages of the game developer's website.

The game 159 has one or more objectives that the user 4 can achieve. Forexample, an objective of the game 159 is to build a happy virtualkingdom. As another example, an objective of the game 159 is to collectvirtual coins, collect virtual crowns, collect other items, chop virtualtrees, feed virtual chickens, gain virtual energy, progress throughlevels of the second game, or a combination thereof.

In several embodiments, when an objective of the game 159 is achieved,the user 4 is rewarded with one or more virtual items, virtual energy, agame level, or a combination thereof. Also, in some embodiments, when anobjective of the game 159 is achieved, the user 4 is provided withanother objective to pursue.

In various embodiments, during the play of the game 159, the user 4 mayinvite social network friends of the user 4 to play the game 159. Forexample, when the user 4 selects an image 164 within the game 159 viathe input device of the client device 150 ₄, the GPU of the clientdevice 150 ₄ displays a window that includes names of social networkfriends of the user 4. The user 4 can select one or more of the names ofthe social network friends to invite the one or more social networkfriends to play the game 159.

In various embodiments, during the play of the game 159, the user 4selects, via the input device of the client device 150 ₄, an image 162to access a virtual gaming environment that is owned by a virtual user.For example, when the user 4 selects the image 162 of a virtual usernamed “John”, the NIC of the game provider network 102 sends virtualkingdom data via the network 136 to the NIC of the client device 150 ₄.The virtual user named “John” does not represent any real world user,such as, for example, a user named “Mary”. Upon receiving the virtualkingdom data, the GPU of the client device 150 ₄ displays a virtualkingdom that is owned by the virtual user “John”. The user 4 can achievevarious objectives within the virtual kingdom of John.

In some embodiments, the user 4 is represented by a virtual user 166during the play of the game 159. For example, the user 4 can directmovement of the virtual user 166 to a location on the display screen 154by selecting, via the input device of the client device 150 ₄, thelocation on the display screen 154.

In various embodiments, during the play of the game 159, the GPU of theclient device 150 ₄ receives the recommendation data 141 (FIG. 1) viathe network 136 (FIG. 1) from the game provider network 102 and executesa rendering program to apply the rendering program to the recommendationdata 141 to display recommendations 156 and 157 on the display screen154.

The recommendation 156 indicates that Mary recommend game 1, e.g., thegame 145, to the target friend, who is associated with a networkidentifier (NI) 158. A network identifier identifies a social context,e.g., a social network, which is accessed by a user. For example, thetarget friend accesses a social network identified with the NI 158 toplay a game. In a number of embodiments, the recommendation 156 includesthe user information, e.g., name of the target friend, image of thetarget friend, etc., regarding the target friend to identify the targetfriend. The recommendation 157 indicates to the user 4 that the user 4will receive additional rewards when the target user plays game 1.

When the user 4 selects the recommendation 156 via the input device ofthe client device 150 ₄, the NIC of the game provider network 102receives the indication of the selection. Upon receiving the indicationof the selection, a processor of the game provider network 102 generatesthe offer promotion data 151 and the NIC of the game provider network102 sends the offer promotion data to the client device 150 ₁ (FIG. 1).The offer promotion data 151 is sent when the target friend accesseshis/her user account via the network 136.

Moreover, upon receiving the indication of the selection of therecommendation 156, a processor of the game provider network 102generates reward data and sends the reward data via the network 136 tothe client device 150 ₄. The reward data is sent when the user 4accesses the user account 132 (FIG. 1) via the network 136. The GPU ofthe client device 150 ₄ accesses the reward data from the NIC of theclient device 150 ₄ and processes the reward data to display a reward,which is provided to the user 4.

In various embodiments, the recommendation 156 includes an invitebutton. When the invite button is selected by the user 4 via the inputdevice of the client device 4, a list of social network friends of theuser 4 is displayed on the display screen 154 and the user 4 may selectfriends from the list to suggest the game 1.

In a number of embodiments, the recommendation 156 excludes anyincentive for the user 4 to recommend the game 1 to the target friendand/or to other friends. For example, the recommendation 156 indicatesto the user 4 that the user 4 recommend the game 1 to the target friendand/or to other friends.

In various embodiments, the recommendation 156 includes an NI of asocial context of social network friends of the target friend and anumber of the social network friends. For example, the recommendation156 indicates to the user 4 that z number of social network friends ofthe target friend access a social network to play the game 145, where zis an integer greater than or equal to zero. In various embodiments, therecommendation 156 includes identities of more than one social context.For example, the recommendation 156 includes that z social networkfriends of the user 4 play the game 145 by using a first social networkservice and v number of social network friends of the user 4 play thegame 145 by using a second social network service, where v is an integergreater than zero. Examples of an identity of a social context include aname of an entity that provides a social network service and a logo ofthe entity.

In various embodiments, a multimedia 160 ₁ of a member of a socialnetwork service and a status of the member with respect to the game 159and with respect to the user 4 are displayed with the recommendation156. An example of a status includes that “James sent help 1 time”. Thehelp is help to the user 4 in the game 159. In these embodiments, thesocial network service is the same as that accessed by the user 4 bylogging into a web account and that is used to play the game 159. Also,another multimedia 160 ₂ of another member of the social network serviceand a status of the member with respect to the game 159 and with respectto the user 4 are displayed. An example of a status includes that “Danahas desire for cooling salve”.

In several embodiments, any number of multimedia of any number ofmembers of the social network service is displayed on a display screen.In various embodiments, the members 160 ₁ and 160 ₂ are examples of twoof the users 1 thru 3.

In several embodiments, any word within the recommendation 156 isprogrammed to receive a selection from the user 4 via the input deviceof the client device 150 ₄. Upon receiving an indication of theselection, the NIC of the client device 150 ₄ sends the indication viathe network 136 to the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1). Uponreceiving the indication of the selection, the game provider network 102generates the offer promotion data 151 (FIG. 1).

It should be noted that in various embodiments, at a time therecommendations 156 and/or 157 are displayed on the display screen 154,the user 4 is not playing or is about to play a game.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen 169 thatdisplays symbols 171 for accessing multiple mobile applications forplaying multiple games. The display screen 169 is a display screen of amobile device, e.g., a cell phone, tablet, a smart phone, etc., and isan example of the display screen of a client device, e.g., any of theclient devices 150 (FIG. 1).

One of the symbols 171 is accessed on the mobile device to access amobile game application to play a game that is offered by the gamedeveloper. For example, a user selects the symbol 171 ₁ to access game 1or selects the symbol 171 ₂ to access game 2. In various embodiments,the mobile game applications are stored within one or more memorydevices of one of the client devices 151.

In a number of embodiments, a mobile application has a different layoutthan a web application. For example, the mobile application is developedfor a smaller display screen than a display screen on which the webapplication is displayed. As another example, the mobile application isdeveloped for a limited amount of controls and inputs from a usercompared to the web application. In several embodiments, a mobileapplication is not being rendered within a browser. In theseembodiments, users visit device-specific portals, e.g., Apple's™ Appstore, Android™ Market, or Blackberry App World™ to find and download amobile application for a given operating system. In a number ofembodiments, a mobile application is not cross-compatible as all mobiledevices run proprietary operating systems. In these embodiments, a webapplication is cross-compatible across desktop computers or laptopcomputers. In various embodiments, a mobile application has lessfunctionality than a web application. The lesser function is a result oflesser computing power in a mobile device compared to a desktop computeror a laptop computer in which a web application is executed. In a numberof embodiments, a web application is executed within a mobile device.For example, a web browser is executed by a processor of a gaming deviceto access a web gaming application on the World Wide Web.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen 168 thatdisplays a recommendation 170 within a web gaming application. Thedisplay screen 168 is a display screen of a mobile device. The displayscreen 168 is an example of the display screen of the client device 150₄ (FIG. 1).

The display screen 168 displays the game 159. Upon logging into the useraccount 132 and accessing a webpage having a URL“https://mobile.gamedeveloper.com/#/play/game2”, the user 4 plays thegame 159 on the mobile device. A GPU of the mobile device renders therecommendation data 141 (FIG. 1), which is stored within a real-timemessaging file, to display the recommendation 170. Examples of areal-time messaging file include a Flash file. Other examples of areal-time messaging file include an instant message file. For example,when the user 4 is playing the game 159, the recommendation data 141 isreceived in the form of Flash file data, instant message file data, or acombination thereof, by a NIC of the mobile device. The GPU of themobile device renders the Flash file data, the instant message filedata, or the combination of Flash file data and instant message filedata to display the recommendation 170. In various embodiments, insteadof being displayed at the bottom of the display screen 168, therecommendation 170 is displayed at the top of the screen 168.

The recommendation 170 has similar subject matter as that ofrecommendations 156 and 157 (FIG. 5). For example, the recommendation170 includes a social context of the target friend.

In several embodiments, any word within the recommendation 170 isprogrammed to receive a selection from the user 4 via the input deviceof the client device 150 ₄. Upon receiving an indication of theselection, the NIC of the client device 150 ₄ sends the indication viathe network 136 to the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1). Uponreceiving the indication of the selection, the game provider network 102generates the offer promotion data 151 (FIG. 1).

It should be noted that in various embodiments, at a time therecommendation 170 is displayed on the display screen 168, the user 4 isnot playing or is about to play a game.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen 173 thatdisplays the recommendation 170 within a mobile gaming application. Thedisplay screen 173 is a display screen of a mobile device. The displayscreen 173 is an example of the display screen of the client device 150₄ (FIG. 1). In several embodiments, the game 159 is accessed on thedisplay screen 179 when the user 4 selects the game 2 on the displayscreen 169 (FIG. 6). A GPU of the mobile device renders therecommendation data 141 (FIG. 1), which is stored within a real-timemessaging file, to display the recommendation 170.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of an embodiment of a suggestion of the game 1 thatis recommended to the target friend by the user 4. The target friendplays a game 161 on a display screen 172. The display screen 172 is anexample of the display screen of the client device 150 ₁ (FIG. 1). Thetarget friend accesses the game 161 when the user information regardingthe target friend is authenticated by the authentication server and thetarget friend logs into his/her user account. The game 161 is accessedfrom the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1).

In the game 161, the target friend controls a virtual monkey via theinput device of the client device 150 ₁ to shoot bubbles from a virtualjar towards other virtual bubbles. When a color of the shot virtualbubble matches that of a pre-determined number of other virtual bubbles,all the bubbles of the matched color burst. The bursting may results inan increase in game score, an energy level, and/or a game level of thegame 161.

An example of a name of the target friend is John. The display screen172 displays a chat button that allows John to chat with his/her socialnetwork friends and further displays an invite button that allows Johnto invite his/her social network friends and/or other users to play thegame 161. In a number of embodiments, the display screen 172 lacksdisplay of the chat botton and/or the invite button.

The display screen 172 displays an offer promotion 174, which is anexample of the offer promotion 140 (FIG. 1). The offer promotion 174indicates to the target friend that the user 4 recommends game 1 to thetarget friend. Moreover, the offer promotion 174 includes an NI 176,which identifies a social context accessed by the user 4 who recommendedgame 1. For example, the user 4 accesses a social network identifiedwith the NI 176 to access game 1 or other games from the game networkprovider 102 (FIG. 1).

The display screen 172 further displays a prompt 178 that indicates tothe target friend to select the prompt 178 to access and play game 1.For example, the prompt 178 includes a select button 180. When aselection of the select button 180 is received from the target friendvia the input device of the client device 150 ₁, a request for accessinggame 1 is sent by the NIC of the client device 150 ₁ via the network 136to the game provider network 102.

In several embodiments, instead of the selection of the select button180, any portion of the prompt 178 is selected. When an indication ofselection of the portion of the prompt 178 is received, a request foraccessing game 1 is sent by the NIC of the client device 150 ₁ via thenetwork 136 to the game provider network 102.

The NIC of the game provider network 102 sends one or more portions ofgame data of game 1 via the network 136 to the client device 150 ₁. Inresponse to receiving the one or more portions of game 1, the GPU of theclient device 1 renders the one or more portions to display informationregarding game 1, e.g., an image of game 1, a play button of game 1,etc., on the display screen of the client device 150 ₁.

The target friend plays game 1. For example, the target friend selects aplay button displayed on the display screen 172 to play game 1. Asanother example, the target friend selects an image of game 1 to playthe game. As another example, the target friend interacts via the inputdevice of the client device 150 ₁ with features, e.g., virtual items,animations, etc., of game 1 to play game 1.

In a number of embodiments, an indication of the play of game 1 by thetarget friend is sent by the NIC of the client device 150 ₁ via thenetwork 136 to the NIC of the game provider network 102. Upon receivingthe indication of the play of game 1, a processor of the game providernetwork 102 generates additional reward data and the NIC of the gameprovider network 102 sends the additional reward data via the network136 to the client device 150 ₄. The additional reward data is sent tothe client device 150 ₄ when the user 150 ₄ accesses the user account132 via the network 136. The GPU of the client device 150 ₄ processesthe additional reward data to display additional rewards on the displayscreen of the client device 150 ₄ and the additional rewards areprovided to the user 4.

The additional rewards are provided in addition to providing rewards tothe user 4 for recommending game 1 to the target friend and/or thetarget friend accessing game 1. The additional rewards are provided whenthe target friend plays game 1.

In several embodiments, the prompt 178 is a part of the offer promotion174. It should be noted that in various embodiments, at a time the offerpromotion 174 and prompt 178 are displayed on the display screen 172,the target friend is not playing or is about to play a game.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen 182 thatdisplays an offer promotion 184 and the game 161 on a mobile device uponexecution of a web gaming application. The display screen 182 is anexample of the display screen of the client device 150 ₁ (FIG. 1). A GPUof the mobile device renders the offer promotion data 151 (FIG. 1),which is stored within a real-time messaging file, to display the offerpromotion 184, which is an example of the offer promotion 140. Forexample, when target friend is playing the game 161, the offer promotiondata 151 is received in the form of Flash file data, instant messagefile data, or a combination thereof, by a NIC of the mobile device. Uponlogging into his/her user account and accessing a webpage having a URL“https://mobile.gamedeveloper.com/#/play/game 1”, the target friendplays the game 161 on the mobile device. The GPU of the mobile devicerenders the Flash file data, the instant message file data, or thecombination of Flash file data and instant message file data to displaythe offer promotion 184. In various embodiments, instead of beingdisplayed at the bottom of the display screen 182, the offer promotion184 is displayed at the top of the screen 182.

The offer promotion 184 has similar subject matter as that of offerpromotion 174 and the prompt 178 (FIG. 9). For example, the offerpromotion 184 includes a social context of the user 4 that recommendedgame 1 to the target friend.

It should be noted that in various embodiments, at a time the offerpromotion 184 is displayed on the display screen 182, the target friendis not playing or is about to play a game.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen 203 thatdisplays the offer promotion 184 and the game 161 within a mobile gamingapplication on a mobile device. The display screen 203 is a displayscreen of a mobile device. The display screen 203 is an example of thedisplay screen of the client device 150 ₁ (FIG. 1). In severalembodiments, the game 161 is accessed on the display screen 203 when theuser 1 selects the game 1 on the display screen 169 (FIG. 6). A GPU ofthe mobile device renders the offer promotion data 151 (FIG. 1), whichis stored within a real-time messaging file, to display the offerpromotion 184.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of an embodiment of the display screen 207 thatdisplays a pattern 209 of circles, which are used to illustrate asuggestion of the game 145. The display screen 207 is an example of thedisplay screen of the client device 150 ₁ (FIG. 1). The GPU of theclient device 150 ₁ displays the pattern 209 after the target friend haslogged into his/her user account and has not used the client device 150₁ (FIG. 1) for a preset period of time. When the pattern 209 isdisplayed, the NIC of the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1) sends theoffer promotion data 151 (FIG. 1) via the network 136 to the NIC of theclient device 150 ₁.

Upon receiving the offer promotion data 151 via the NIC of the clientdevice 150 ₁, the GPU of the client device 150 ₁ renders the offerpromotion data 151 to display a message 211 at the top of the displayscreen 193. The message 211 invokes curiosity of the target friend tofind out what the user 4 has to recommend. When the target friendunlocks the pattern 209 via the input device of the client device 150 ₁and selects the message 211 via the input device, a web page 213 isdisplayed on the display screen 207 by the GPU of the client device 150₁. The web page 213 has a URL “https://mobile.message.com”. The web page213 includes a message that conveys that the user 4 has recommended game1 and provides a select button that can be selected by the target friendto access and play game 1.

In several embodiments, instead of displaying the pattern 209, a newsweb page that shows news, a shopping web page that shows shopping items,a search results web page that shows results of a web search, a searchquery web page that shows a search engine, or any other web pageavailable on the World Wide Web, is displayed.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of an embodiment of multiple graphs 184, 186, and188 used to illustrate a dynamic change in use of the game 145 (FIG. 1).The graph 184 plots a use of the game 145 by the users 2 thru 4 (FIG. 1)versus time t. The use of the game 145 is dynamically changing overtime. For example, the use of the game 145 at a time t1 is below a uselimit and the use of the game 145 at a time t2 is above the use limit. Aprocessor of the game provider network 102 (FIG. 1) determines at thetime tl that the use is below the use limit and avoids generating therecommendation data 141 (FIG. 1) regarding the game 145. Moreover, aprocessor of the game provider network 102 determines at the time t2that the use is above the use limit, generates the recommendation data141, and sends the recommendation data 141 to the client device 150 ₄(FIG. 1).

As shown in the graph 186, the use of the game 145 by the users 2 thru 4increases linearly after a time t3. A processor of the game providernetwork 102 determines after the time t3 that the use increased linearlyafter the time t3 and increases, after the time t3, a frequency withwhich the recommendation data 141 is sent by the NIC of the gameprovider network 102 to the client device 150 ₄. The GPU of the clientdevice 150 ₄ renders the recommendation data 141 to display therecommendation 108 each time the recommendation data 141 is received bythe NIC of the client device 150 ₄. The frequency is increased comparedto a frequency of sending the recommendation data 141 before the timet3.

Also, as shown in the graph 188, the use of the game 145 decreaseslinearly after a time t4. A processor of the game provider network 102determines after the time t4 that the use decreased linearly after thetime t4 and decreases, after the time t4, a frequency with which therecommendation data 141 is sent by the NIC of the game provider network102 to the client device 150 ₄. The frequency is decreased compared to afrequency of sending the recommendation data 141 before the time t4.

In several embodiments, instead of the linear change in the frequencyshown in the graphs 186 and 188, an exponential or a step functionchange in the frequency can be used.

In some embodiments, the change in use of the game 145 by the users 2thru 4 after the times t3 and t4 is a result of an application by aprocessor of the game provider network 102 of different factors todetermine the use compared to before the times t3 and t4. For example, aprocessor of the game provider network 102 applies a first combinationof factors to determine use of the game 145 before the time t3 or t4 andapplies a second combination of factors to determine use of the game 145after the time t3 or t4. To illustrate, the second combination offactors includes whether the users 2 thru 4 paid to play the game 145and whether each of the users 2 thru 4 played the game 145 for a highernumber of gaming sessions during a time period than that used to playthe other games during the time period. In this illustration, the firstcombination of factors includes whether each of the users 2 thru 4mentioned the game 145 for a higher number of times than mentioning theother games and whether each of the users 2 thru 4 accessed the game 145for a higher number of times than accessing games other than the game145.

It should be noted that in several embodiments, any comparison ofportions of the group data 135 (FIG. 1) is a factor. For example, if theusers 2 thru 4 and the target user have the same or similar age is afactor. As another example, whether the users 2 thru 4 paid to play thegame 145 is another factor.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a client device 190,which is an example of any of the client devices 150 (FIG. 1). Theclient device 190 includes a display device 208 that is coupled with abus 196 via an input/output interface (I/O) 198 ₁. Examples of thedisplay device 208 include an LED display device, an LCD display device,a plasma display device, and a CRT display device. The display device208 includes a display screen 206. The display screen 154 of FIG. 5, thedisplay screen 168 of FIG. 8, the display screen 172 of FIG. 9, thedisplay screen 182 of FIG. 10, or the display screen 207 of FIG. 12 isan example of the display screen 206.

An input device 204 of the client device 190 is coupled with the bus 196via an I/O 198 ₂. An I/O interface that is coupled with two devicesprovides compatibility between the two devices. For example, the I/Ointerface 198 ₁ matches a rate of transfer of data to/from the displaydevice 208 with a rate of transfer of data over the bus 196. As anotherexample, the I/O device 198 ₂ converts analog signals received from theinput device 204 into digital signals that are compatible with the bus196. Moreover, a processor 202, a memory device 194, and a NIC 192 arecoupled with the bus 196.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a server 210. The server210 may be a part of the game provider network 210 or the social network134 (FIG. 1). In several embodiments, the server 210 is theauthentication server. The server 210 includes a processor 212, a memorydevice 214, and a NIC 216. The processor 212, the memory device 214, andthe NIC 216 are coupled with each other via a bus 218. In severalembodiments, the server 210 includes any number of processors and memorydevices.

Embodiments described in the present disclosure may be practiced withvarious computer system configurations including hand-held devices,microprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumerelectronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. Theembodiments can also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a wire-based or wireless network.

With the above embodiments in mind, it should be understood that theembodiments can employ various computer-implemented operations involvingdata stored in computer systems. These operations are those requiringphysical manipulation of physical quantities. Any of the operationsdescribed herein are useful machine operations. The present disclosurealso relates to a device or an apparatus for performing theseoperations. The apparatus can be specially constructed for a specificpurpose. The apparatus is selectively activated or configured by acomputer program stored in the computer.

In one embodiment, a module or an engine, as used herein, is embodied ascomputer-readable code on a computer-readable medium. Thecomputer-readable medium is any data storage device that can store data,which can be thereafter be read by a computer. Examples of thecomputer-readable medium include hard drives, network attached storage(NAS), ROM, RAM, compact disc-ROMs (CD-ROMs), CD-recordables (CD-Rs),CD-rewritables (RWs), magnetic tapes and other optical and non-opticaldata storage devices. The computer-readable medium can includecomputer-readable tangible medium distributed over a network-coupledcomputer system so that the computer-readable code is stored andexecuted in a distributed fashion.

Although the method operations were described in a specific order inFIGS. 2 and 3, it should be understood that other housekeepingoperations may be performed in between operations, or operations may beadjusted so that they occur at slightly different times, or may bedistributed in a system which allows the occurrence of the processingoperations at various intervals associated with the processing, as longas the processing of the overlay operations are performed in the desiredway.

Although the foregoing disclosure has been described in some detail forpurposes of clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certainchanges and modifications can be practiced within the scope of theappended claims. Accordingly, the present embodiments are to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure isnot to be limited to the details given herein, but may be modifiedwithin the scope and equivalents of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing access to a gamenetwork, wherein the access to the game network is provided to a clientdevice via a user profile, wherein the client device is configured to beoperated by a user; accessing a social network to identify a socialnetwork friend of the user from a social graph associated with the userprofile; and generating a notification to send to a user accountassociated with the user profile, wherein the notification includes areward to be provided to the user account and an identity of the socialnetwork friend, wherein notification includes that the reward is to beprovided to the user when the user recommends a game to the socialnetwork friend, wherein the game is configured to be accessed via thegame network that is not the same as the social network.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the game network includes game data for playing aplurality of games, the user profile, the user account, a user accountof the social network friend, and a use profile of use of the game bythe user, wherein the use profile includes data regarding the use of thegame by the user.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving information regarding the user from the client device via acomputer network; determining whether the information is authentic,wherein said providing access to the game network occurs in response todetermining that the information is authentic.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the client device is a smart phone or a computer, wherein theuser profile includes information identifying the user.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising assigning a web account to the user, whereinsaid accessing the social network is performed via the web account,wherein the web account is the user account.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the social graph includes an association between the userprofile and a profile of the social network friend of the user.
 7. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the identity of the social network friendincludes an identity of the social network.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the notification indicates that an additional reward will beprovided to the user when the social network friend plays the game. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein the game network and the social networkare coupled to the client device via a computer network.
 10. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: determining whether the social networkfriend has accessed the game via the game network; providing anotherreward to the social network friend for accessing the game.
 11. A serversystem comprising: one or more processors configured to: provide accessto a game network, wherein the access to the game network is provided toa client device via a user profile, wherein the client device isconfigured to be operated by a user; access a social network to identifya social network friend of the user from a social graph associated withthe user profile; and generate a notification to send to a user accountassociated with the user profile, wherein the notification includes areward to be provided to the user account and an identity of the socialnetwork friend, wherein notification includes that the reward is to beprovided to the user when the user recommends a game to the socialnetwork friend, wherein the game is configured to be accessed via thegame network that is not the same as the social network; and a memorydevice coupled to the one or more processors for storing the userprofile.
 12. The server system of claim 11, wherein the game networkincludes game data for playing a plurality of games, the user profile,the user account, a user account of the social network friend, and a useprofile of use of the game by the user, wherein the use profile includesdata regarding the use of the game by the user.
 13. The server system ofclaim 11, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:receive information regarding the user from the client device via acomputer network; determine whether the information is authentic,wherein the access to the game network is provided in response to adetermination that the information is authentic.
 14. The server systemof claim 11, wherein the client device is a smart phone or a computer,wherein the user profile includes information identifying the user. 15.The server system of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors arefurther configured to assign a web account to the user, wherein theaccess to the social network is provided via the web account, whereinthe web account is the user account.
 16. The server system of claim 11,wherein the social graph includes an association between the userprofile and a profile of the social network friend of the user.
 17. Theserver system of claim 11, wherein the identity of the social networkfriend includes an identity of the social network.
 18. The server systemof claim 11, wherein the notification indicates that an additionalreward will be provided to the user when the social network friend playsthe game.
 19. The server system of claim 11, wherein the game networkand the social network are coupled to the client device via a computernetwork.
 20. The server system of claim 11, wherein the one or moreprocessors are further configured to: determine whether the socialnetwork friend has accessed the game via the game network; provide areward to the social network friend for accessing the game.